WASHINGTON - As the Senate Judiciary Committee met today to hold its third
hearing into the warrantless surveillance of Americans by the National Security
Agency (NSA) authorized by President Bush, the American Civil Liberties Union
urged lawmakers to hold a fair and comprehensive investigation of the facts
about the program before considering any legislation regarding the illegal
operation.

"Congress needs to fully investigate this violation of the rule of law and
the administration must stop stonewalling the efforts of lawmakers," said
Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "When
the president authorized the NSA program, he violated the law. The American
people and their elected representatives deserve to know the truth. Illegal
activity needs to be investigated - not approved and legitimized."

The Senate Judiciary Committee met today to hear from members of the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and others familiar with the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The ACLU noted that FISA was passed by
Congress in response to revelations that former President Nixon and others were
using "national security" claims to spy on political enemies and ordinary
Americans who disagreed with the government about political issues. Under
federal law, FISA is the "exclusive means" under which Americans can have their
communications monitored for intelligence purposes.

Members of the FISC are those federal judges authorized to issue FISA orders,
and they are available to the government at any time-their hearing facility is
even located in the Justice Department. For example, in 2004, FISC judges
approved 1,758 secret surveillance warrants, without denying a single one. The
ACLU noted that the law even permits federal law enforcement to initiate an
emergency intelligence investigation and retroactively seek an order up
to 72 hours after the fact, making these provisions sufficiently agile to deal
with exigencies.

One of the witnesses expected to testify, David Kris, is a former Associate
Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice, where he handled national
security issues. In an internal e-mail exchange that was released through a
Freedom of Information Act request, he stated, "Claims that FISA simply requires
too much paperwork or the bothersome marshaling of arguments seem relatively
weak justifications for resorting to 'constitutional powers' in violation of the
statute." He added that he did "not think Congress can be said to have
authorized the NSA surveillance" via the authorization for military force in
Afghanistan.

"Many legal and security experts have rejected the administration's claims
that the warrantless NSA eavesdropping program was both legal and necessary,"
said Lisa Graves, ACLU Senior Counsel for Legislative Strategy. "Enough time has
been spent on legal theories-what Congress and the American people are entitled
to is the facts about how many Americans' emails or phone calls have been
monitored through this program. Congress must reject attempts to legitimize this
illegal program, and instead insist that the truth be brought to light."